Aug 20, 2026
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Were you the kid who asked too many questions, or the one moved to a hut at the back of the school field?
In this episode I sit down with Steph Batey to ask whether neurodiversity is a blessing, a curse, or simply human diversity that we never learned to value properly. We get into the labels we were handed at school and how long they stick, why around 1 in 5 of us are thought to think differently from the norm, and what changes when you stop hunting for what is wrong with someone and start looking for what is strong. Steph is candid about her own ADHD diagnosis at 37, what fell apart when she left teaching and lost the structure that had been holding her together, and how she works now.
Stephanie Batey is a former secondary school English teacher and head of literacy who now works as a neurodiversity consultant and qualified ADHD coach. She founded Inclusive Teacher Co, trains teachers and businesses in the UK and internationally, and is also a property investor, mentor and published author. She starts a PhD in education later this year.
EXPECT TO LEARN:
- Why Steph answers "yes and no" to the bandwagon question, and
where she draws the line between validation and gaming the
system
- What an ADHD assessment actually involves, and why Steph
describes a clinical diagnosis as a very informed opinion
- How a label handed to you at eight can still be running your
decisions at forty
- Why deficit language in the DSM and in schools shapes how a child
comes to see themselves
- What Robert Brooks meant by islands of competence, and how to
look for those instead of the oceans of inadequacy
- The figure Steph quotes for how many corrective comments a
neurodivergent child may hear from the adults around them by age
ten
- Why an hour of writing a day is the worst possible advice for a
brain that runs on hyperfocus
- What Steph means by self-acceptance over self-development, and
why the personal development industry can leave some people feeling
like outcasts
- Where to go first if you recognise yourself in any of this, and
why social media is the wrong place to start
TIMESTAMPS:
00:00 Introduction
01:00 Why around 1 in 5 of us think differently
02:09 When a diagnosis is sought for the wrong reasons
04:36 What neurodiverse and neurodivergent actually mean
06:38 Developmental language disorder, dysgraphia and
co-occurrence
09:17 Steph's PhD, and what a title can mean
10:18 The labels we were given at school
14:41 Executive function, support, and the deficit trap
16:30 Islands of competence, oceans of inadequacy
18:11 Special educational needs and being separated out
22:00 The dyslexic brain and spotting what others miss
26:22 Masking, and the minds we pushed to one side
29:42 The adults in a child's life, and the weight of
correction
32:39 Steph's own diagnosis at 37
36:50 The assessment, the QB test, and what it showed
39:23 Support that works: a PA, an ADHD coach, and honest
trade-offs
43:27 Hyperfocus, time blocking, and writing a book in a week
45:13 Self-acceptance over self-development
48:24 Vicki's three wishes
51:57 What Steph would say if you recognise yourself in this
FOLLOW THE GUEST STEPH BATEY:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephbateyneurodiversity
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/inclusiveteacherco/
FOLLOW THE HOST VICKI WUSCHE:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vickiwusche/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/VickiWusche
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vicki_wusche/
LISTEN TO A WEALTHY LIFE:
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/VickiWusche
Apple Podcasts:
https://podcasts.apple.com/nz/podcast/a-wealthy-life/id1617293196
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/13lVRTAioD5mR4XUiylAk8
#Neurodiversity #ADHD #Neurodivergent #ThinkDifferently #AWealthyLife